Elevated carrier for handling frames and the like



W. E. IRISH AND A. K. NOWAK.

ELEVATED CARRIER FOR HANDLING FRAMES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION HLED OCT. 8,1919.

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W. E. IRISH AND A. K. NOWAK. ELEVATED CARRIER FOR HANDLING FRAMES ANDTHE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8. I919.

ay 30, 1922. 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented M UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

WILLIAM E. IRISH AND ALOIS KARL NOWAK, CLEVELAND, OHIO, A SSIGNORS ToTHE HYDRAULIC PRESSED STEEL COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORA.

TION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922.

Application filed October a, 1919. semi No. 329,326.

To all 1127mm. i?- may concern:

Be it known that we, \VILLTAM E. InIsH and ALoIs KARL Nowan, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of (.uyahogaandState of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inElevated Carriers for Handling Frames and the like, of which thefollowing is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being bad tothe accompanying. drawings.

This invention is a novel construction of elevated carrier designed forcarrying automobile frames during the process of painting the same. butit will be understood that the invention is capable of use in connectionwith the carrying of various types of articles.

The object of the invention is to provide an elevated carrier, by meansof which frames or other articles can be successively carried to variouspoints or stations where operations are performed thereon, and then.

delivered at a point for unloading from the carrier, the track for thecarriers being endless whereby the carriers can be used over and overfor carrying the articles to the operating point.

A nother object of the invention is to provide a carrier inv whichsuccessive periods of rests will be had thereby, affording ampleopportunity for the performance of the various operations; and-a stillfurther object of the invention is to provide a carrier capable ofperforming the desired operations and which will require'the minimumamount of power, utilizing the movement of each carrier unit to transmitmotion to the preceding unit.

\Vith these, and certain other objects in view, the invention consistsbroadly in the employment of an endless track and a plurality ofcarriers movable upon said track in combination with independent movingdevices or pushers arranged at predetermined points for moving thecarriers along definite portions of the track.

The invention consists also in making the track of different levels andproviding a pusher in advance of each elevation for the purpose ofmoving the carriers up said elevation and along a definite stretch oflevel track.

The invention consists also in providing the carriers with longitudinalextensions so that sald carriers can contact with one another and p ushone another along without permlttlng the articles carried to contactw1th one another; and the invention also cons sts in providing suchlongitudinal extenslons with vertically extending end portions wherebycontact between the carrier Wlll be effected at all times irrespectiveof the differences in level between said carrlers.

The invention consists also of certain details of construction andnovelties of combination, all of which will be fully describedhereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this speclfication, Fig. 1 is adiagrammatic top plan view of an elevated carrier embodying one form ofour invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is adetail view of one of the carriers and the pusher adapted to operateupon the same; Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view on the line 44 ofFig. 3; Fig. 5 is a face view of the driving sprocket; and Fig. 6 is anenlarged detail plan of one end of the carrier frame. Fig. 7 shows aslight modification.

In the manufacture of automobile frames and similar articles fabricatedfrom pressed sheet steel it is desirable, and often necessary, to paintor coat the metal frame or other article, in order to prevent rusting.

Before the coat of paint or other protective material can be applied itis necessary to remove all oil, grease or dirt which has eccumulateduponthe frame during its fabrication, and heretofore, -so far as We areaware, a great amount of time and labor has been consumed in cleansingthe frames and then coating or painting the same, inasmuch as it hasbeen necessary to carry the frames to a suitable washing apparatus toremove the oil and grease andthen dry said frames before applying thecoating thereto, and these various operations separately performed, andeffected by separate handling or moving from place to place, not onlyinvolved a considerable amount of time and labor but also requiredconslderable space. The present construction of carrier was thereforedevised to overcome these numerous objections and this has been done byproviding an endless track and arranging thereon a plurality of carriersin which the frames or other articles can be suspended and started atone point upon the track and fed at proper speed first to the vwashingapparatus, thento the drying means, and then to the coating or paintingdevice, and then.

carried along at proper speed overa definite distance to permit thedrying of the paint or other coating during the interval of time a thatthe elevated carrier, with frame or other article, require to arrive atthe delivery point Where the frame is removed from the carrier andanother frame connected there- .to; thereby rendering the operation ofthe carrier endless or continuous.

In the practical embodiment ofthe device leys 12, preferably arranged inpairs, each pair being connected by a yoke 13 from which depends'aswiveled hanger .14; and rigidly connected to the depending hangers 14is a T-bar 15 which constitutes the central longitudinal member of thecarrier frame and whose length will be determined by the nature of thearticle to be carried. As a rule, automobile frames do not exceedfifteen, feet in length and consequently,'the.

carrier havlng an over all length of eighteen feet will be ample tocarry frames sufli- 'ciently spaced to prevent contact, and also provideample space for the'various operations to be performed upon the articlecarried. v In addition to the central T-shaped member 15 theframe of thecarrier comprises 7 a pluralityqof cross pieces 16 formed of angle ironand attached'to\th e central member or beam with one flange depending,these cross pieces 16 being arranged at definite in-' tervals for apurpose hereinafter explained.

Side pieces 17, also of angle iron are connected to the ends of thecross piec esilfi and at the opposite ends, these side pieces areextended and bent into alignment with the ends of the beam 15 and'serveto support These bumpers are preferably made of sheet metal and it willbe noted that they have considerable breadth and height and are curvedfrom end to end thereby" providing .broad" curved surfaces in order thatthe bumpers may contact with one another irrespective of the level orthe angle of curve at which the contacting carriersmay be traveling.

Any other form of carrier frame may be employed so long as the featuresof central longitudinal beam and the transverse cross .pieces and theendbumpers are maintained.

A plurality of spaced clevises are connected to the central beam 15,(two being shown in the present instance) and each clevis has connected.thereto a pulley 20 around which travels an endless chain or belt 21 inwhich the auto-frame or other article is suspended.

By arranging the article in this endless chain or belt, suspended from apulley the article can be turned quickly and easily to any desiredposition so that all of the surfaces thereof can be thoroughly coated,painted or otherwise treated.

An automobile frame, or other article, is hung, in the pair ofsuspending chains depending from thecarrier 11 and then the carrier isstarted along the level portion 22 of the track 10 which passes througha washer or other suitable form of cleansing apparatus, and in order tomove the carrier along this stretch of the track, and also cause a trainof carriers to be pushed along, we provide a pushing or moving devicecomprising an endless chain or belt 23, this chain or belt beingarranged parallel with the track and adjacent thereto and travelingaround sprockets 24 and 25, in the direction indicated by the arrow Fig.5, the sprocket 25 being a power sprocket, deriving its power from anelectric motor or other suitable source 26, there being reduction gears27 interposed for reducing the speed, if desired.

The chain 23 is provided with a series of dogs 28 which engage the crossbars of the carrier frame and cause the said carrier frame to be movedalong the track a dis 'tance. equal to the length of the moving chain.

A second carrier with an automobile frame suspended therefrom is thenmoved along the track until the dogs upon thechain engage the cross barsof this second carrler and feed 1t forward, and this second ,carrierwill contact with the first carrier and The suspended frame is firstpassed through a washer, indicated diagrammatically at 29, and then pastthe painting station indicated diagrammatically at 30. The station islarge enough to accommodate two or more frames and the paint ispreferably applied by means of an air brush, although the frames may bedipped in a tank if desired. The step by step movement of the carriersis particularly advantageous where the paint is applied by workmen,since the intervals of rest permit the ready application of the paint tothe various parts of the frame and makes easier the manipulation of theframes to bring the various parts thereof within reach of the paintapplying devices. After the first frame emerges from the painter it iscaused to travel by gravity down the inclined portion 31 of the endlesstrack, and in practice this inclined portion of the track is preferablycurved constituting as it does the end of the loop; and as the carriercompletes its travel around the curved and downwardly inclined portionof the track. it is brought into engagement with a second pusher 32constructed identically the same as the pusher previously described, andby means of this second pusher, which is independent of the first movingdevice. the carrier is caused to travel up the inclined portion 33 ofthe track upon or to- "ards the level portion 34.

After the first frame emerges from the painter and travels down theincline to the second pusher 31, the second. frame will follow the samecourse and will come into engagement with the second pusher and duringthe movement of the second frame it will come in contact with the end ofthe first frame and push the same along. The third frame will act in thesame manner, so that by means of the second pusher or moving device theseries of frames will be pushed along the incline 33 and the levelportion of the track 34, and during these movements the painted orcoated frame will have considerable time to dry; and at the end of thelevel portion 34 of track, the carrier is brought into engagement withanother pusher or moving. device 35. identical in construction with thepusher filSliflOSfl'lllGd, and by means of this third pusher or movingdevice. the painted and dried frames are pushed up to the incline 36 tothe elevated portion 37 of the track from which they travel by gravityaround the downwardly inclined portion 38, arriving at the deliverypoint 39 where the frames are removed therefrom and the carriers movedalong to the proper position for receiving other frames.

If desired, the power sprocket of the third pusher can be mounted uponthe same shaft as the power sprocket of the first pusher, inasnmch asthese first and third pusher-s can usually be arranged oppositeeach-other, and we have so illustrated them,'

but it will be understood that the power sprocket of each usher canreceive its power from any suitab e source.

It will thus be seen that by means of the endless track having portionsthereof level and portions thereof upwardly inclined andportions'thereof downwardly inclined, and that by having the carriers ofsuch a length as to contact with one another at certain portions oftheir travel and that by means of separate and independent pushingdevices, we are able to feed the automobile frames evenly through thewashing and painting devices, carrying the frames around the bends ofthe loops by gravity and then feed the train of carriers along adefinite stretch of track during which time the frames can dry and thendeliver the dried frames one at a time by gravity at the end of the loopat which place the frame can be removed and the carrier moved along toreceive another frame to be washed and painted. The upwardly inclinedportions of the track are preferably made somewhat shorter than thecarrier so that any pushed carrier will stop at the end of the pushingmovement upon a. level portion of track and will therefore not exert anybackward thrust.

Inasmuch as the endless chain which carries the dogs is arrangedparallel with the track and to one side of the central beam of carrierthe engagement will be at one side of thecenter of said carrier and inorder to prevent any possible tilting of the carrier which might effecta disengagement with the pusher we provide a guide strip 40, preferablyof wood and faced with metal, and beneath which the opposite side of theframe bears during the passage of the carrier beneath the driving chain;and in order to prevent any buckling of the chain we arrange a shoe 41which extends just above the lower flight of said chain and is spaced]USt far enough above sald chaln to permit the proper traveling movementof said chain but will arrest any upward or buckling tendency. The guide40 and shoe 41 are suspended in any suitable manner.

The driving sprockets as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 comprise the toothedsprocket ring 42 having ratchet faces 43 upon the inner face thereof,said sprocket ring turning upon the hub portion 44 which is providedwith a plurality of spring actuated pawls 45 which engage the ratchetportions of the sprocket ring. The hub 45 is rigidly connected to thepower shaft 46 and will turn the toothed sprocket ring in the directionof the shaft. By means of this construction, the sprocket ring will havea free running movement in one direction and consequently if one of thecarriers should race into engagement with the driving chain there willbe no undue strain placed upon the chain and sprocket inasmuch as thesprocket will turn freely I upon the central portion of the wheel and onthe spring actuated pawls catch up with the sprocket portion, willcontinue .to move the same in the proper direction for effecting themovement of the carrier.

It will thus be seen that we provide a simple. and highly eflicient formof device for moving a series of frames over a given tions can be mentof sal is required to move the carriers around said gas . certaininterval of t me between, dlspatchmg curves and by making the elevatingportionsof the track comparatively short in length, each carrier will beelevated by its local pusher to a' position upon the level portion ofthetrack so as to relieve all back thrust upon the apparatus. I

It will also be observed that by allowing a the carriers with theobjects thereon, a. cor-- responding interval of time will be allowed atthe work stations. for performing the various operations and hence suchtime interval in dispatching the carriers may be al-' lowed to suit theparticular work performed,

thus assuring plenty of time at each work station for performing thevarious operations and at the same time preventing loss of time betweencarriers at the stations.

It is obvious that the track can be suspended in any suitable manner incorder to accommodate surrounding conditlons and 1t will be understoodthat the positions of the separate and independent pushers will bedetermined by the nature of the work to be performed uponthe articlecarried.

It will also be understood that we have only illustrated onepractical-embodiment of our idea and that various changes andmodifications can be made in the construction and arrangementof theseveral parts without departing from the broad principle of theinvention as defined by the appended claims. I Having thus described ourinvention what we claim is 1.'In an elevated carrier, thecombinationwith an endless track having portions thereof level, portionsthereof upwardly inclined, and portions thereof downwardly inclined, ofcarriers movable upon said track, independent moving devices for movingthe carand along the level portions thereof, and

means associated with said moving device for absorbing an forward thrustimparted thereto by the orwardmovement of said carriers upon contacttherewith.

2. In an elevated carrier, the combination with an endless track havingportions thereof level, portions thereof upwardly inclined, and portionsthereof downwardly- .inclined, of carriers adapted to move upon saidtrack, said carriers having extended ortions adapted to contact with oneanot er, to-

ther with means arranged adjacent .to and in advance of each upwardly1nclined' portion of the track and ada ted to engage carriers at saidpoints whereby said carriers are caused to move up the inclined portionsand along the level portions of said track by means of said movin'device, and means associated with said In vin device for absorbing anyforward thrust imparted thereto by the forward movementof said carriersupon contact therewith. a, j

3. In-an elevated carrie'r,the combination with an endless track, ofa'earrierada ted to travel upon said track," said carrier aving atransverse member, and endless pusher chain adapted to engage saidtransverse member, a guidestrip arranged opposite the pusher chain and ashoe arranged above the lower flight of said chain for the purpose setforth.

4:. In an elevated carrier of the kind described, the combination of atrack, of a carhub guidestrip arranged parallel, with the endless chainand upon the opposite side of the longitudinal member and a shoearranged above the lower fiight of the endless chain, and meansassociated with said moving devices for absorbing any forward thrustimparted thereto by the forward movement of said carriers upon contacttherewith.

5. In an elevated carrier, the combination with an endless track of aplurality of carriers arranged to travel thereon said carriers havingtheir ends constructed for contact with one another and independentmoving devices adapted to engage carriers at difl'erent points upon thetrack, and the move ment of each carrier by said power device beingtransmitted to one or more carriers in advance thereof. 7

' 6. In a work supporting conveyor, a carrier, means for moving thecarrier with successive intervals of rest and motion, means for varyingthe intervals of rbst without varying the interval of motion.

65 riers up theinclined portions of said track 7. Ina worksupporting-conveyor, a carthe intervals ofrest'may be varied at Wlllfrom the dispatching station,

9. In a work supporting conveyor, a carrier, a loading and carrierdispatching station, a work station, means for moving the carrier fromthe loading station past the work station and means whereby the rate ofmovement of the carriers past the work station is controlled by thedispatch of carriers from the loading station.

10. In a work supporting conveyor, 9. carrier, a loading and dispatchingstation, a

work station, and means for moving the carriers step by step past thework station with intervals of rest corresponding to the intervalsbetween the dispatch of successive carriers.

11. In a work supporting conveyor, 9. track, a series'of carriers on thetrack, a

' work station, means adjacent the work station for engaging carriersone at a time and moving them toward the work station, means for feedingthe carriers to the carrier engaging means one at a time at intervalswhereby the carriers will be moved past the work stations step by stepin abutting relation.

12. An endless conveyor, comprising an elongated endless track, aloading and unloading station at one end of the conveyor, a carrier,automatic means for moving the carrier alon the track from the loadinstation to the oading station and means %or freeing the carriers fromthe action of the moving means as they approach the unloading stationwhereby the movement of the carriers may be manually controlled at theseriers one by one rapidly to the work station, means for moving thecarriers slowly past the-work station and means for moving the carriersone by one rapidly away from the work station.

14. In a work carrier, the combination with a track having level anddownwardly inclined portions, a series of article carriers traveling onthe track, means for moving some of the carriers end to end in abuttingrelation along the level portion and means for detaching the carriersone at a time from the row and starting them down the inclined portion.

15. In a work supporting conveyor, the combination with a plurality ofwork stations, a series of carriers, a loading station and unloadingstation for loading and unloading articles to be treated uponthecarriers, means to move the carriers one by one rapidly from the loadingstation to the first work station, means to feed the carriers slowlypast each of the work stations and means to move the carriers one by onerapidly from the last work station to the unloadin station.

16. 11 an automobile frame conveyor, the combination with a workstation, a carrier, means to move the carrier slowly past the workstation and means upon the carrier for rotatably supporting the frame.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto afiix our signatures.

WILLIAM E. IRISH.

ALOIS KARL NOWAK.

